* Failed to post my Pac-12 players of the week ballot on Monday and wanted to make note of it for the sake of transparency. I intended to vote for Oregon State WR Brandin Cooks, except he wasn’t nominated — the Beavers went with QB Sean Mannion instead. After considering the other candidates, I voted for Mannion. The defensive player was an easy pick: UCLA’s Anthony Barr. And for special teams, I selected OSU’s Trevor Romaine. Turns out, Mannion, Barr and Romaine were the winners in their respective categories …

We’re in the final stages of full-blown, non-conference play, with six games scheduled for Saturday. (Only one vs. the FCS!!!)

The lone league game is the marquee matchup. Arizona State heads to Stanford to face a 2012 conference champion for the second week in a row.

Let’s hope this game is better officiated than ASU-Wisconsin.

Few things have meant more to commissioner Larry Scott during his tenure than improving the league’s officiating and the national perception of the league’s officiating — both are vital for the Pac-12’s brand.

The conference has taken positive steps in those regards over the past few years. But between the Ed Rush-Sean Miller utter-and-complete debacle and the chaos in Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday night, it’s clear that Scott and deputy commish Kevin Weiberg have much work to do.

The lines are out, and it should come as no surprise that one game is viewed as a lopsided matchup and one as a taut affair.

Louisville, the No. 1 overall seed that’s fresh off a blowout of Duke, opened as a 10-point favorite over No. 9 seed Wichita State.

In the other game, a duel of No. 4 seeds, Michigan opened as a 2.5-point favorite over Syracuse, but the line has dropped a half-point in the casinos.

I haven’t taken a close look at the matchups — that will comes in the next 48 hours — but I can provide one piece of potentially relevant information.

If you believe, as Louisville Rick Pitino said years ago and has repeated on more than one occasion, that “talent wins at the Final Four,” then there is no true favorite despite Louisville’s impressive run through the Midwest and winning streak that stretches back to early February.

Fairly strong start to the Madness, but the round of 32 is often the easiest to pick because teams have worked through tournament jitters and results are more likely to be a true reflection of personnel.

But it gets tougher from here: Indiana-Syracuse, Michigan-Kansas, Duke-Michigan State, Arizona-Ohio State … there is little to differential one team from the other:

Irrespective of how they performed during the regular season, they’re all among the most talented 12 or 15 teams in the country.

In fact, just two of the eight games have point spreads greater than six (i.e., more than two possessions), and both of those — Florida-FGCU and Louisville-Oregon — could be tight down the stretch.

Officially, the bowl season lasts a little more than three weeks, from Dec. 15 through Jan. 7. That timeframe is a tad misleading, however, because two games are played five days earlier than all others and a handful are played later (post-Jan.1) than all others.

The heart of the postseason is a 13-day stretch featuring 27 games, and that stretch starts today (Thursday) with BYU and San Diego State colliding in the Poinsettia Bowl — a game I’d place on any must-see list given the mutual dislike the schools have for each other.

Actually, it’s BYU that dislikes San Diego State.

San Diego State hates BYU.

Here are my picks for games that don’t involve the Pac-12 teams. In keeping with regular-season routine, I’ve picked the San Jose State game and my four best bets.

* Oregon’s back-to-back-to-back games against ranked teams (if the Ducks play for the league title) could provide enough computer juice to push them past Kansas State and into the No. 1 spot in the BCS rankings …

Thereby giving the Rose Bowl the first choice in the NCG replacement selections …

Thereby allowing the Rose to dis the Pac-12 by selecting Notre Dame over three-loss Stanford/Oregon State.

* Stanford and UCLA could end up playing back-to-back weeks: in the Nov. 24 finale and again in the Pac-12 title game.

There’s even a scenario in which both games could be in the Rose Bowl, meaning Stanford would have to win two games in the Rose Bowl to get to the Rose Bowl.